Novel hollow all-carbon structures

A new family of cavernous all-carbon structures is proposed. These molecular cage structures are constructed by edge subdivisions and leapfrog transformations from cubic polyhedra or their duals. The obtained structures were then optimized at the density functional level. These hollow carbon structures represent a new class of carbon allotropes which could lead to many interesting applications.Peer reviewe

A method for designing a novel class of gold-containing molecules

We propose a novel class of gold-containing molecules, which have been designed using conjugated carbon structures as templates. The sp-hybridized carbons of C-2 moieties are replaced with a gold atom and one of the adjacent carbons is replaced by nitrogen. Applying the procedure to hexadehydro[12]annulene yields the well-known cyclic trinuclear gold(i) carbeniate complex. Planar, tubular and cage-shaped complexes can be obtained by taking similar sp-hybridized carbon structures as the starting point.Peer reviewe

Magnetically Induced Current Densities in Zinc Porphyrin Nanoshells

The molecular structures of porphyrinoid cages were obtained by constructing small polyhedral graphs whose vertices have degree-4. The initial structures were then fully optimized at the density functional theory (DFT) level using the generalized gradient approximation. Some of polyhedral vertices were replaced with Zn-porphyrin units and their edges were replaced with ethyne or butadiyne bridges or connected by fusing two neighboring Zn-porphyrin units. Molecule 1 is an ethynebridge porphyrinoid nanotube, whose ends are sealed with a Zn-porphyrin. Molecule 2 is the corresponding open porphyrinoid nanotube. Molecule 3 is a clam-like porphyrinoid cage, whose shells consist of fused Zn-porphyrins, and the two halves are connected via butadiyne bridges. Molecule 4 is a cross-belt of fused Zn-porphyrins, and molecule 5 is a cross-belt of Zn-porphyrins connected with butadiyne bridges. The magnetically induced current density of the optimized porphyrinoid cages was calculated for determining the aromatic character, the degree of aromaticity and the current-density pathways. The current-density calculations were performed at the DFT level with the gauge-including magnetically induced currents (GIMIC) method using the B3LYP hybrid functional and def2-SVP basis sets. Calculations of the current densities show that molecule 2 sustains a paratropic ring current around the nanotube, whereas sealing the ends as in molecule 1 leads to an almost nonaromatic nanotube. Fusing porphyrinoids as in molecules 3 and 4 results in complicated current density pathways that differ from the ones usually appearing in porphyrinoids. The aromatic character of molecules 4 and 5 changes upon oxidation. The neutral molecule 4 is antiaromatic, whereas the dication is nonaromatic. Molecule 5 is nonaromatic, and its dication is aromatic.Peer reviewe

Magnetically Induced Current Densities in Toroidal Carbon Nanotubes

Molecular structures of toroidal carbon nanotubes (TCNTs) have been constructed and optimized at the density functional theory (DFT) level. The TCNT structures have been constrained by using point groups with high symmetry. TCNTs consisting of only hexagons (polyhex) with armchair, chiral, and zigzag structures as well as TCNTs with pentagons and heptagons have been studied. The employed method for constructing general polyhex TCNTs is discussed. Magnetically induced current densities have been calculated using the gauge-including magnetically induced currents (GIMIC) method. The strength of the magnetically induced ring currents has been obtained by integrating the current density passing a plane cutting the ring of the TCNT. The main pathways of the current density have been identified by visualizing the current density. The calculations show that the strength of the diatropic ring current of polyhex TCNTs with an armchair structure generally increases with the size of the TCNT, whereas TCNTs with a zigzag structure sustain very weak diatropic ring currents. Some of the TCNTs with pentagons and heptagons sustain a strong diatropic ring current, whereas other TCNT structures with pentagons and heptagons sustain paratropic ring currents that are, in most cases, relatively weak. We discuss the reasons for the different behaviors of the current density of the seemingly similar TCNTs.Peer reviewe

Recent progress and perspectives of space electric propulsion systems based on smart nanomaterials

Miniaturized spacecraft built from advanced nanomaterials are poised for unmanned space exploration. In this review, the authors examine the integration of nanotechnology in electric propulsion systems and propose the concept of self-healing and adaptive thrusters

Biasing molecular modelling simulations with experimental residual dipolar couplings

In this thesis two different models, that is levels of abstraction, are used to explore specific classes of molecular structures and their properties. In part I, fullerenes and other all-carbon cages are investigated using graphs as a representation of their molecular structure. By this means the large isomer space, simple molecular properties as well as pure graph theoretical aspects of the underlying graphs are explored. Although chemical graphs are used to represent other classes of molecules, cavernous carbon molecules are particularly well suited for this level of abstraction due to their large number of isomers with only one atom type and uniform hybridisation throughout the molecule. In part II, a force field for molecular dynamics, that is the step wise propagation of a molecular structure in time using Newtonian mechanics, is complemented by an additional term that takes into account residual dipolar couplings that are experimentally measured in NMR experiments. Adding this force term leads to more accurate simulated dynamics which is especially important for proteins whose functionality in many cases crucially depends on their dynamics. Large biomolecules are an example of chemical systems that are too large for treatment with quantum chemical methods but at the same time have an electronic structure that is simple enough for accurate simulations with a forcefield

Magnetically Induced Current Densities in pi-Conjugated Porphyrin Nanoballs

Magnetically induced current densities (MICDs) of Zn-porphyrinoid nanostructures have been studied at the density functional theory level using the B3LYP functional and the def2-SVP basis set. Six of the studied Zn-porphyrinoid nanostructures consist of two crossing porphyrinoid belts, and one is a porphyrinoid nanoball belonging to the octahedral (O) point group. The Zn- porphyrin units are connected to each other via butadiyne linkers as in a recently synthesized porphyrinoid structure resembling two crossed belts. The MICDs are calculated using the gauge-including magnetically induced current method. Current-density pathways and their strengths were determined by numerically integrating the MICD passing through selected planes that cross chemical bonds or molecular rings. The current-density calculations show that the studied neutral molecules are globally nonaromatic but locally aromatic sustaining ring currents only in the individual porphyrin rings or around two neighboring porphyrins. The ring-current strengths of the individual porphyrin rings are 20% weaker than in Zn-porphyrin, whereas oxidation leads to globally aromatic cations sustaining ring currents that are somewhat stronger than for Zn- porphyrin.Peer reviewe

Magnetically Induced Ring-Current Strengths in Mobius Twisted Annulenes

The topology of twisted molecular rings is characterized by the linking number, which is equal to the sum of the twist-a local property of the molecular frame-and the writhe-a global parameter, which represents the bending of the molecular ring. In this work, we investigate a number of cyclic all-trans C40H40 annulenes with varying twisting numbers for a given linking number and their dications. The aromatic character is assessed by calculating ring-current strength susceptibilities using the gauge-including magnetically induced currents (GIMIC) method, which makes it possible to conduct a systematic study of the relation between the topology and aromaticity of twisted molecules. We found that the aromatic properties of the investigated Mobius twisted molecules are not only dependent on the linking number as previously suggested but also depend strongly on the partitioning of the linking number into the twist and writhe contributions.Peer reviewe

Molecular structure refinement based on residual dipolar couplings: a comparison of the molecular rotational-sampling method with the alignment-tensor approach

In NMR experiments, residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) in a molecule can be measured by averaging the dipolar couplings (DCs) over the rotational motion of a molecule in an environment that induces a slight anisotropic orientation distribution of the molecule. Since the shape of the anisotropic distribution cannot be measured, it is standard practice to use a particular orientation distribution of the molecule with respect to the magnetic field, in the form of a so-called alignment tensor (AT), to calculate RDC-values for the molecule. Since the same alignment tensor is commonly used to calculate the different RDCs of a molecule, this approach rests on the assumption that the rotational motion of the molecule is decoupled from its internal motions and that the molecule is rigid. The validity of these two assumptions is investigated for a small, simple molecule, using a relatively rigid atomic interaction function or force field and a more flexible one. By simulating the molecule using an orientation-biasing force an anisotropic rotational distribution can be generated, for which RDCs can be obtained. Using these RDCs as target RDCs when applying one of the two approaches of structure refinement based on RDCs, it can be investigated how well the target RDCs are approximated in the RDC restraining and whether the corresponding nonuniform orientation distribution is reproduced. For the relatively rigid version of the molecule, the AT approach reproduces the target RDC-values, although the nonuniform orientation distribution of the angle θab,H between the vector r⃗ab connecting two atoms a and b in the molecule and the vector representing the direction of the magnetic field H⃗ as generated in the orientation-biasing simulation cannot be reproduced in the AT RDC-restraining simulation. For the relatively flexible version of the molecule, the AT approach fails to reproduce both the target RDC values and the nonuniform orientation distribution. For biomolecules with flexible parts, the application of the AT approach is thus not recommended. Instead, a method based on sampling of the rotational and internal degrees of freedom of the molecule should be applied in molecular structure determination or refinement based on measured RDCs